Truck Market Data shows sharp dip

After very strong truck sales in January around the nation, February has seen a significant drop in all segments aside from light duty.

TIC CEO Tony McMullan has called the first two months of 2017 'polar' for truck sales.

The light duty segment is clearly growing with the 'city truck' trend we've seen in recent years, particularly the popularly of light trucks that can be driven with a car licence.

February saw total truck and van sales reach 2,276 across Australia, down 10 percent on February last year.

While the light duty segment recorded positive growth, it was only 9 units up on February last year, leaving it at 1.1% up with 808 sales for the month.

Despite the February results dragging down what was ultimately a very strong start to 2017, year-to-date sales are still up 2.2% compared to the same period last year.

To put February’s results into perspective, that year-to-date improvement was up at 21.2% at the end of January.

President of the Truck Industry Council (TIC) Phil Taylor says despite a big drop in February, this isn’t abnormal data to see at this time of year.

"Boom and bust would be a good way to describe the first two months of 2017 for new truck sales in Australia. After a great start to the year in January, sales certainly took a hit this month," Mr Taylor said.

"Of course fluctuating sales in the first couple of months of a new year are not unusual and we should see sales steady by the end of the first quarter."

Chief Executive at TIC Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council reflected on the data, saying it’s too early to paint a clear picture and the next couple of months will provide a more concise snapshot of the heavy vehicle market.

"The first two months of 2017 have seen somewhat polar new truck and van sales," Mr McMullan said.

"The combination of January and February sales shows a normalisation of the market in 2017, which is now tracking slightly ahead of 2016.

"Due to the volatility seen in the first two months of this year we will have to wait another month, or two, before we can truly gain a sense of where the Australian heavy commercial vehicle market may track in 2017."